July 23 is Renaissance Day in Oman. This public holiday commemorates the anniversary of the day Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said ascended the throne in 1970 and set a goal to end Oman's isolation.

Qaboos bin Said al Said is the son of Said bin Tamur, who became the sultan of Muscat and Oman in 1932. Said bin Tamur was a highly conservative, self-willed, stubborn and mistrustful ruler, which had a negative effect on the country's development. By the late 1960s, he had become erratic and paranoid in governing the country.

In 1970, his son Qaboos staged a successful coup and exiled Said to the UK. Qaboos united Muscat and Oman into a single state and named it the Sultanate of Oman. He launched extensive reforms aimed at ending Oman's isolation and developing the country. Due to these reforms, Oman began to flourish. Radical changes were brought in industry, education, health, infrastructure, trade, agriculture, and all aspects of social life.

The day Qaboos bin Said al Said became Sultan of Oman is considered the beginning of the country's Renaissance, which transformed Oman from a poor backward country to a thriving modern state. The anniversary of the coup was declared as a public holiday, Renaissance Day.